2009-07-10
Stadtwerke München, RWE Innogy and RheinEnergie enter solar-thermal power plant Andasol 3
• Consistent realisation of the business model by involving major investors in the project company Andasol 3
• The subsidiary Flagsol delivers the technology; the joint venture with MAN Ferrostaal is in charge of the construction of the power plant
• Start of operation scheduled for 2011
• The Andasol power plants will supply around half a million people with solar power
Erlangen, 10 July 2009
Today, additional investors have entered the parabolic trough power plant project Andasol 3, developed by Solar Millennium AG (ISIN DE0007218406) in the south of Spain. The plant is presently under construction. In this transaction, the holding company Solanda GmbH, a joint venture with MAN Ferrostaal AG, is selling 74 % of its shares in the Andasol 3 project company, Marquesado Solar S.L., to several utilities. Stadtwerke München is acquiring a stake of 48.9 % in the project company, RWE Innogy and RheinEnergie are acquiring 25.1 % via a joint holding company (RWE Innogy: 51 %, RheinEnergie: 49 %). The other 26 % remain in the hands of the holding company Solanda GmbH that is owned by MAN Ferrostaal (61.5 %) and Solar Millennium (38.5 %).
The Andasol projects are three 50 MW parabolic trough power plants in Andalusia, which were initiated and developed by Solar Millennium AG. Solar Millennium AG's subsidiary Flagsol in Cologne contributed the solar field technology for the three power plants. Whilst Andasol 1 and 2 were implemented together with a Spanish construction company and are already producing electricity, Andasol 3 is under construction and scheduled to be connected to the grid in 2011. The Andasol 3 project is the first time Solar Millennium is also responsible for the construction of a power plant via its joint venture with MAN Ferrostaal, MAN Solar Millennium GmbH, and in cooperation with the Spanish company Duro Felguera S.A. The three Andasol power plants will supply around half a million people with environmentally friendly electricity.
Christian Beltle, CEO of Solar Millennium, welcomes the involvement of the investors: "As a result of our early market entry we have gained extensive know-how in the development and realisation of solar-thermal power plants. In both Spain and Egypt we delivered the solar technology for the countries' first ever parabolic trough power plants. The fact that we are now acting in concert with four German top companies is a wonderful acknowledgement of our work so far."
Thomas Mayer, CFO of Solar Millennium, adds: "The involvement of investors in the project company Andasol 3 is an impressive confirmation of our business model. In contrast to Andasol 1 and 2, which were 80 % debt-financed, we have been increasingly pursuing two alternative financing models for new power plant projects: 100 % equity financing via major investors and fund models. We are pleased that we have been able to win such renowned utilities as investors. Our financing options are the guarantee of our success, even in times of difficult financial market conditions."
Dr. Wolfgang Knothe, member of Solar Millennium's management board and the responsible managing director of the joint power plant construction subsidiary with MAN Ferrostaal says: "In the Andasol 3 project Solar Millennium covers the entire value-added chain of solar-thermal power plants from development, financing and construction through to operation. In doing so, we are utilising Solar Millennium's comprehensive technological know-how and MAN Ferrostaal's competence in power plant construction."
You can download the press release here.
Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt (RWE Innogy) on the left and Dr. Kurt Mühlhäuser (Stadtwerke München) showing a parabolic trough.
